The National Labor Relations Board accused Apple of violating employees’ rights to seek better working conditions. In a complaint discovered by ReutersThe agency alleges that Apple illegally fired an employee who was using Slack to advocate for workplace reform within the company. Separately, the NLRB has accused Apple of forcing another employee to delete social media posts.
The lawsuit stems from a complaint filed in 2021 by #AppleToo co-organizer Janneke Parrish. In October of that year, Apple fired Parrish for allegedly sharing confidential information, an allegation she denied. According to the complaint, Parrish used Slack and public social media posts to advocate for permanent remote work.
She also shared an open letter criticizing the tech giant, distributed a pay equity study, and detailed instances of sexual and racial discrimination at Apple. According to the Labor Relations Board, Apple’s policy prohibits employees from creating Slack channels without administrator permission. Instead, workers should report workplace concerns to management or a “People Support” group maintained by the company. An example of the kinds of concerns some employees have expressed using Slack can be seen in a 2021 tweet from former Apple employee Ashley Gjøvik.
“We have terminated employees who engaged in our core protection work of calling out pervasive sex discrimination and other civil rights violations in the workplace, and we are proud to have terminated and face-lifted our employees,” said Laurie Burgess, Parrish’s attorney. “We look forward to holding Apple accountable in court for implementing these illegal rules.” Reuters.
Apple did not immediately respond to Engadget’s request for comment.
Unless Apple reaches a settlement with authorities, an initial hearing before an administrative judge is scheduled for February. The NLRB is considering forcing the company to change its policy and compensate it for the financial hardship it suffered as a result of Parrish’s firing. Last week, the NLRB accused Apple of forcing employees to sign illegal and overly broad non-disclosure and non-compete agreements.
